National Republican., 1887-05-04
Gen. sherman as n Critic.


Gen. Sherman as a Critic.
Gen. w. 4. Sherman has often been &C.
cueed, and perhaps justly, Of making mis-
takes with pen in his hand, though it has
never been said that he committed any
errors when he had the implement Of his
yrofesson-the sword. His last effort as
writer will be found in the North american
Rctiew for May, and is an answer to Gen.
Lord Wolseley's estimate of Lee and Grant,
in which the British general places Lee as
the greatest of the American generals dur
ing the war of the rebellion.
Gen. Sherman gives to his distinguished
opponent in the war Of the rebellion, Gen.
Lee, high and deserved praise.
lie says that Gen. Lee was O typical
American, and knew that the southern
states could only succeed in forming an in
dividual nation by united action under a
president armed with both civil and mill.
tary functions, and for that reason did not,
as Gen. Wolseley thought he ought to have
done, assume the dictatorship Of the south.
ern confederacy. In fact, Gen. Sherman
explodes the idea very thoroughly that any
one could become a dictator in America.
lie shows that the coup d'etdt is not plant
that will grow in this country that Amer
leans propose to abide by the law.
Speaking of Gen. Lee as man, he says
lie was handsome in person, gentle and
diGnifed In manner, cool and self-possessed
in the midst Of confusion and battle, not
seeking strife, but equal to 1t when 1t came.
and the very type Of manhood which would
impress itself on the young enthusiast,
Gen. Wolseley. AS to his personal in
iuence and standing Gen. Sherman says,
many of us believe that had Lee stood firm
in 1861 and used his personal influence he
could have stayed the civil war and thereby
saved the lives OF hundreds of thousands OF
the fairest youths of the land, and thou.
sands Of millions OF dollars In cost and de.
structioG.
But when the English general attempts
10 make Lee greater general than Grant,
sherman naturally dissents. lie describes
what Lee really was, what he really did,
and then gives the history of Grant, the OBJ
scure clerk in a tannery at Galena; how he
rose step by step, how he conducted the
great campaigns in the west; how he was
called to the east and placed in command
Of the armles-not the army Of the Potomac
slone or the army defending Washington,
lut the entire armies Of the United States;
those that were battling under the Potomac
were under his personal charge, those that
were in Tennessee and Kentucky, those
that were in Missouri and Arkansas, those
that were in Texas and Louisiana, those
hot no 10 ~ ipo
in New Orleans, on the Mississippi river,
ard everywhere, numbering million OF
men, and scattered over thousands Of miles
Of territory, all were under the command Of
Gen. Grant, and he directed all their
movements. While Lee only directed the
movements ofthe army of Virginia, the de
ftIse Of Richmond, Grant was casting hi:
thoughts over the continent, giving minute
directions for distant armies, himself as
sumipg the hardest share, and then he begar
campaign equal in strategy, logistics, ant
tactics greater than any planned by Ma
poleor, and greater than any ever con
templated by England. His personal actor
in crossing the Rapidan n front Of Lec'I
amy, lighting him In the Wilderness, for
waid ty the left flank to Spottsylvania, tc
Eicl mond and Petersburg, was the sub
Euity Of heroism. Having reviewed thu
actions Of the two generals, the command!
Mhit h they held, the resources at their CON
nand, Gen. Sherman naturally, logically
srd properly accords to Gen. Grant highe
rank than that he gives to Lee.
But he even goes further than this. HI
Eays that another man-an officer Of til,
UIion army, a native Of the same state will
Lee, like Lee, too, q graduate OF Wes
Point, holding the same rank with Lee IL
the army of the Union at the beginning o
tie war. hut, unlike Lee, remaining true Il
the country-was the superior Of Lee as
military tactician and commander, and tina
man was Gen. George II. Thomas. Ill
irilute to Thomas is indeed a handsom
uLe, and ole that will be read by the mem
lers Of the army OF the Cumberland witt
delight.
H. concluding his article Gen. Sherman
having during the whole course of I
tLowu that the English sentiment wa
decidedly upon the part OF the rebellion
says; "Of all governments on earth Eng
land is the last to encourage rebellion
against lawful authority, and OF al
men in England Gen. Wolseley is the las
VITO should justify and uphold treason
Ireland to-day has many times the cause u
rebel against England which the south hl
in lsCl.n